BATON ROUGE – A former campaign manager for Senate candidate Rob Maness is striking at the Republican contender's tea party support, saying Maness only sought to appeal to conservative organizations because he needed money for his campaign.

John Kerry, who managed Maness' campaign for six months in 2013, sent an email this week to activists and community leaders slamming Maness as a political opportunist. He said Maness was falsely portraying himself as a tea party candidate in the race against Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu.

"As the 2013 Campaign Manager for candidate Rob Maness, I can honestly say that everything you see is smoke and mirrors," Kerry wrote in the email, obtained by The Associated Press.

Maness' campaign said claims the retired Air Force colonel doesn't believe in conservative principles are ridiculous.

Kerry, a Thibodaux-based consultant, encourages people in his email to support Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy instead of his former employer. In a phone interview, Kerry said he sent the email to inform voters and describe the "falsities" in Maness.

"He tries to adapt to different groups. He made it very clear, 'I'm not a tea partier. I don't want to be known as a tea party candidate.' Then, he learned that was the only way he was going to get funds," Kerry said.

Maness' campaign said the GOP candidate was a member of his local tea party organization before he began running for the Senate and campaign spokesman Jon Meadows released emails from Kerry when he worked for Maness that praised his candidacy.

The campaign accused Cassidy supporters and local Republican Party officials of encouraging bogus accusations against Maness.

"Reports that establishment leaders in the Party have been working to pressure or coerce young, enthusiastic, talented, conservative activists into disavowing our shared principles and their personal preferences are deeply disturbing. But times like this make it abundantly clear how much our Party and our country need new, independent leadership and that's why Rob is the best candidate for Senate," Maness campaign manager Michael Byrne said in a statement.

Kerry said he wasn't working for the Cassidy campaign, the state Republican Party or any organization supporting Cassidy. He said the email was his idea.

Maness is running a long-shot campaign, polling a distant third in the Senate race. But his candidacy has complicated Cassidy's efforts to focus solely on Landrieu. Maness supporters have repeatedly questioned whether Cassidy is the best candidate for Republicans, and Maness has described Cassidy as another Washington insider, similar to Landrieu.

Maness' candidacy is expected to force the Senate race into a Dec. 6 runoff between Landrieu and Cassidy.